“You really believe that, don’t you?” Hunter hadn’t wanted to comment, but his tongue got the better of him. “But you can’t say that about me without saying it about him.” And he was fine with this logic—he was—Belos was all bad, down to his rotting core, and the man had lost sight of the great and the good decades (if not centuries) ago, and Hunter himself was hardly any better. And that was fine; he’d been bad, he was a vile person; still was, but he would like to have thought himself a little better by now. Not living under the thumb of a genocidal maniac was a improvement. “Tell me, has Eda ever done anything bad? Has she ever hurt you?” / @nghtlghts

           "We both know the answer to that, don't we?"

          "Depends, what would you wager?"

there he is

"I never even thought I was doing bad things." He had been told that the palisman were dangerous, that wild witches were the worst of criminals, and that his uncle's reign had brought upon the most peaceful times the isles had ever known. And never once had he thought to question it, question his uncle who had raised him since birth (or, at least, since he was made). Hunter should have thought it was strange when he was not permitted to speak but to only a few people, should have thought it wrong that Belos would ignore his pain or injuries; he should have had the courage to venture down to the dungeons where he would have found hundreds of innocents, locked away for nothing but questioning a corrupt regime. How many people had been killed because of his ignorance? "You shouldn't be the one trying to comfort me. I'm sorry."

          “Because he is a seasoned serial killer!” Hunter’s voice cracked with indignation (and partially because he couldn’t believe he had just accused his uncle of being a murderer). “And you’re a hermit playing the old hag of the woods.”

         “So what! That doesn’t make you better than me, I could still take you in a fight any day.”

            "I am not short, you're just freakishly tall!"

"I didn't know what cops were, sir!" No one had told him, not even Luz (and she had lived her entire life on earth)—! "I thought they were just really nosy and annoying adults."

"You think so?" Hunter knew he shouldn't have been basking in the praise as much as he was. He hadn't even done anything particularly impressive, in fact, he'd lost their fight. It was still just rather odd to get positive reactions out of his failures; not that he would have expected anything different from Seluna. She was kind, a far cry from his uncle or anyone else in the palace. "Uhm, thank you! You—you too! You are super tall and awesome."